DIY uq using an old sleeping bag?

**ManusMagicis** · 05-28-2017, 22:19

Hey all! How's it hanging?

I'm so clever.

I love hammock camping, but I've found my mummy bag to be a difficult sleeping companion in the hammock. I've recently upgraded to a double nest deluxe, and would like to make an underquilt. I have an old sleeping bag that I feel would work well.

What would it take to turn it into an underquilt?

**leiavoia** · 05-28-2017, 23:05

You can easily convert to an underquilt using snap on clews documented here
http://www.leiavoia.net/pages/hammock/levquilt.html

The shape of the bag will make a difference though. If you have a narrow mummy bag with a strong taper, it isn't going to like being an underquilt.

**ManusMagicis** · 05-29-2017, 11:55

Originally Posted by leiavoia

You can easily convert to an underquilt using snap on clews documented here
http://www.leiavoia.net/pages/hammock/levquilt.html

The shape of the bag will make a difference though. If you have a narrow mummy bag with a strong taper, it isn't going to like being an underquilt.

Beautiful! I like this

my spare bag opens into two half, so I should be able to do both, but may need to make two different sets to accommodate a double/single

**Shug** · 05-29-2017, 12:06

Search how to turn a sleeping bag into an underquilt on You Tube and you will find some info as well.
Shug

**___S___** · 06-01-2017, 08:37

I've done this myself as I'm sure many others on this forum have. As some have already said there's a lot of info out there on various ways to do this. Do you have access to a sewing machine or "thread injector" as it's called around here?

**Pennsy Camp and Canoe** · 06-01-2017, 11:42

I made mine out of a rectangle sleeping bag, made two. Works well, but mine are heavy. Got me down to 15° this last winter tho...

Good Luck

**old creek** · 07-06-2017, 08:48

I experimented with the sleeping bag thing and it is very doable but when it got down to it I couldn't bring myself to cut up any of the bags I had that would have kept my butt warm. I tried rigging a Big Agnes bag and a Marmot bag without mod's and it is doable but it was a pain and took to long and if I remember right the BA bag didn't cover the shoulder area well. as already stated youtube is your friend.

creek

**chknbone** · 07-10-2017, 16:02

Hello all. I've been thinking of doing the same thing as everyone else in this thread (using a sleeping bag as an under quilt) but I want to try and keep the sleeping bag in tack. I've got a North Face "Long" Dolomite 40 (https://www.rei.com/product/895335/t...0-sleeping-bag) which is rectangular and has a zipper at the foot end. What I'm thinking of doing is unzipping the foot and sliding the hammock through the inside so that the sleeping bag essentially is wrapped around the hammock. The biggest hope is that I could partially unzip the side and climb in and the sleeping bag would be both the top quilt and underquilt.

I'm sure it's not going to work out in reality as well as I picture it in my mind. My biggest doubt is that my butt pushing down on the sleeping bag is going to pull the top down and basically trap me between it and the hammock (haha). I actually have two of those sleeping bags and they zip together to make one giant sleeping bag. That may work better but I'm not sure I want to pack 5.5lbs of sleeping bag for an overnight.

**sagamore** · 07-10-2017, 17:19

A couple of years ago, I took a very old (45+ years!) down sleeping bag and threaded shock cord through all four sides. (This was easy on two sides that had a roomy hem, and it was messy on the other two sides.) It was heavy and difficult to snug up on all sides, and the old down in it slid to the bottom. All of this convinced me that 1) an underquilt could indeed be much better than the pad I had been using and 2) I really need to buy an underquilt from a professional! I now have a UGQ Zeppelin on order -- in production this week!